Last week was spirit week, with all that entails. We had dress up days and activities during lunch. And of course, the dreaded activity, the Pep Assembly.
I try not to be a grumpy gills when it comes to these things. I mean, we get out of class for a good chunk, the kids have fun, we build school spirit, it's fantastic. I remember pep assemblies from my youth very fondly.
The problem is that there is so little structure. Give middle school students an inch, they take a mile. Without strict processes and rules in my classroom I wouldn't be surprised if one day I ended up hogtied in a corner with a gag in my mouth.
So pep assemblies aren't my favorite thing. Anything that changes the routine isn't my favorite thing. Especially when, as a teacher, I feel like I know absolutely nothing about whats going to happen. These days sound like "No, I do not know when they will call us down for the assembly. No, I have no idea what they're doing at the assembly. Yes, we have a seating chart. No, we cannot sit by Ms. Peterson's class. Yes, you have to sit with us. No, you cannot just leave because you don't care about it." There are a lot of questions and I have a lot of answers that sound like I don't know anything.
Typically, on an assembly day, I end up cranky and rude. I have to go home and take a bath to release the anxiety of all those questions and all my not real answers.
But last week I realized something. Middle school students, given an iota of freedom, will descend into absolute chaos. We're talking primal behavior, savage behavior. They say and do things they would NEVER in their right mind do. But they do them because they can get away with it.
It is because they are testing limits.
Middle school students, as well as most adolescents, are still learning how to operate within a system. They are learning appropriate behaviors and how they personally fit within a structure, such as society. This is why people give me the "You are SOOOOOO Brave!" when I tell them what I do. Middle school students are still at that crucial age where they are trying to understand the system and so act out in the most absurd ways.
Now, when we take away any semblance of a structure they descend into a feral state. Some of you are thinking "Oh Goodness! I am so glad I do not work with kids!" but you do!
Picture Black Friday Shopping. Picture Saturday's at the super market. Picture football stadiums and hockey rinks across the world. These are all things that operate outside the normal standards of society. They are all free range zones.
Give anyone the leeway to exist outside of the normal constraints of society and they turn feral! Yes, my work has a higher concentration of this behavior but that doesn't exclude you from dealing with feral beasts who do not care whatsoever about you or the rules.
Mankind is still an animal. We can dress ourselves up, build homes and streets and monuments but given a little freedom, given the opportunity to operate outside of the system, we are just a bunch of animals again.
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